1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of simulating an occurrence of an air pocket in an object to be coated by being immersed in a coating material tank and a program executable by a computer for executing the method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and a program for simulating an occurrence of an air pocket in an object to be coated by taking an angle of inclination of an object to be coated and a flow velocity of a liquid coating material in the coating material tank, into consideration.
2. Related Art
Coating methods, for example, a plating method of immersing an object to be coated, such as a semiconductor or a vehicle body of an automobile, in a coating material tank filled with molten metal to thereby coat the object, and an electrodeposition coating method of immersing an object to be coated in a coating material tank filled with electrodeposition liquid to thereby coat the object, have advantages in that a coating film is substantially uniform in thickness, and that also, a weld part of the object can be coated. On the other hand, such coating methods have a drawback in that in a case where an air pocket called a “air pocket” occurs in a concave portion provided in a complicatedly shaped component or in a depressed portion of the inner surface of a hood or a roof, or the bottom surface of a floor of an automobile, no coating film can be formed in this portion.
Accordingly, the shape of the object is appropriately designed to prevent an occurrence of an air pocket. Then, the object is immersed (see, for example, JP-A-10-045037).
Meanwhile, it can preliminarily be determined by a known analysis method, which utilizes a free surface, whether an air pocket occurs in the object. Incidentally, sometimes, air bubbles adhere to the bottom portion of an inclined portion of the object due to a surface tension and to an intermolecular force, so that an air pocket occurs. Whether the bubbles having once adhered to the object depends upon an angle of inclination of the object, a surface tension caused between the object and the liquid coating material, the flow velocity of the liquid coating material filled in the coating material tank, and the direction of flow of the liquid coating material. A related analysis method does not take this respect into account. Thus, the related analysis method cannot necessarily achieve high-precision simulateion of an occurrence of an air pocket in the object.
A problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a method and a program executable by a computer for executing the method for simulating an occurrence of an air pocket in an object to be coated with high accuracy in consideration of an angle of inclination of the object, a surface tension caused between the object and a liquid coating material, the flow velocity of the liquid coating material filled in a coating material tank, and the direction of flow of the liquid coating material.